KARACHI, Nov 10: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan is understood to have worked out an effective monitoring system to ensure that before lifting sugar from stocks in the mills, the millers have made payment to growers and start crushing sugarcane by November 15.

The TCP has been assigned to lift 100,000 tons of sugar from the millers’ stocks before the end of this month and 100,000 tons more after Eidul Fitr provided the millers adjust their payments to the growers and start crushing sugarcane by middle of this month.

“We will demand documentary evidence if the mills have started crushing sugarcane by November 15,” Syed Masood Alam Rizvi, chairman of the TCP, informed Dawn on Monday.

Masood Alam Rizvi is in touch with the cane commissioners in Sindh and Punjab to work out a system that should keep the TCP informed that a miller has paid outstanding dues to the growers and it has started sugarcane crushing.

“We may ask for receipts of sugarcane purchase, sales tax document and electricity consumption figures,” Mr Rizvi said. He said the TCP would pay 70 per cent of the bid money at the time of lifting sugar and the remaining amount would be paid to a miller after ascertaining that all dues of the growers were paid and the miller was engaged in sugarcane crushing.

The TCP is being given Rs4 billion bank credit to commence purchase of sugar from the millers’ stock. The TCP has already floated tender in the newspapers and bids will be opened on Wednesday (Nov 12).

Well-placed sources claimed that a foolproof strategy had been worked out to ensure that the millers did not form a cartel for bidding to get undue high price of their product. At least three ministries in Islamabad — finance, industry and commerce — are watching the bidding process and are expected to give their inputs in approval of the bids.

Sugar mills reported over 621,000 tons of sugar stocks on October 10, 2003. This stock pertains to 2002-03 crushing. This included about 429,000 tons in 38 mills in Punjab. Out of 32 sugar mills in Sindh, three are not operating and one mill, Bachani, has not been commissioned. The 28 sugar mills in Sindh have 134,000 tons of sugar on October 10. In NWFP, one mill is not operating and five mills reported more than 58,000 tons of sugar.

In Punjab, sugar mills belonging to Sharif family report relatively more sugar stocks inventory. The Brothers Sugar Mills reported more than 32,500 tons of stock, Waqas 22,379 tons, Ittefaq 25,415 tons and Kashmir more than 36,000 tons.

Dewan is the only mill in Sindh with over 20,000 tons of unsold sugar stock followed by Al Abbas 17,400 tons, Habib 12,500 tons, Al-Noor over 12,000 tons, Sindh Abadgar over 10,000 tons and Shah Murad 9,690 tons.

About 90,780 tons of sugar have been exported by the

TCP after procuring the commodity from the mills during the current fiscal year, and 19,250 tons of sugar are being exported.

About Rs700 million was paid as rebate to the millers from taxpayers’ money by the government.